Badlands National Park in South Dakota is a most unusual place. I love the spectacularly eroded landscape and the grasslands too.
We took a hike and even saw a Bighorn sheep. We also met some people who were having fun with "geocaching", a sport that I'm not sure I fully understand.
One of this country's hidden gems is the Niobrara National Scenic Riverway in Nebraska. It's officially a "wild and scenic" river with no dams and many recreational opportunities. We camped in a state park right next to the water and even though it rained a lot the day we were there it was still a beautiful place. We also saw Smith Falls, the tallest waterfall in the state.
The interesting thing about the Niobrara is that it's a prairie river. Its source is not some faraway stream high in the Rocky Mountains. Instead its waters bubble up from the ground in eastern Wyoming, fed by the Ogallala Aquifer.
Now this raises a question for me. Are the "marquee" vacation spots necessarily better? Is Smith Falls less scenic than Yosemite Falls? Does remote Picture Canyon in Colorado have to play second fiddle to the Grand Canyon? Do the Monument Rocks automatically have less grandeur than El Capitan? I'm not so sure. Maybe it's just a matter of scale.
The whole world is beautiful if you look at it right.
Many of the interesting sights in the Great Plains can be found on private property (thank you Homestead Act of 1862). Fortunately, landowners in these parts are generous about granting public access. Case in point: the Monument Rocks in Gove County, Kansas. These limestone monoliths were once part of an ancient seabed that covered what is now rolling prairie. There were about a zillion swallow nests built onto the rocks high up. Somehow each bird knew exactly which one to return to to feed their young.
We did a good job of following the rules here: don't leave trash and don't harass the cattle.
That's a big word...
Western Kansas is pretty hot and humid in the summer, but we found a nice state park and camped next to a lake. You know what we saw? Fireflies! I had never seen them before. We don't have them in California so it was really cool. I think they're my second favorite small creature after the Salt Creek pupfish in Death Valley.
I noticed that some people from the Midwest call them "lightning bugs."
One of the characteristics of this trip that you may have noticed is that we haven't visited any major parks or tourist destinations yet. In our quest for the obscure we landed here at Picture Canyon in the grasslands of southeastern Colorado. It took a few bumpy gravel roads to get here but it's an interesting place.
You can see the ruins of a pioneer cabin as well as ancient art rock (thus the name). It was very hot (100° F at least) but we survived it.
I realize that this place is not as famous as the Golden Gate Bridge or the Brooklyn Bridge, but I think it's safe to say that the bridge than spans the Rio Grande Gorge just west of Taos is the most famous one in New Mexico.
Looking east towards the Sangre De Cristo Mountains, they were sadly shrouded in haze (probably from a distant forest fire). The last time we were here a summer storm had just passed through and the view was clear and magnificent.
Of course we had to stop in Winslow, Arizona to see the "Standin' On The Corner" exhibit. It was such a fine sight to see, although I must admit that I didn't see any girls in flatbed Fords slowing down to take a look at me.
Oh, well... I've still got Dad and his Subaru.
